


Jaspley

by WinchesterWarrenSon



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 22:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 10,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16942086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinchesterWarrenSon/pseuds/WinchesterWarrenSon
Summary: My Jaspley stuff from Tumblr. All technically connected but weren't really meant to be a cohesive story originally.Jasper and Peridot check on the progress of the cluster. They end up meeting a teenage Stan Pines on the beach. Jasper doesn't expect to grow attached. Stanley wants to become one of them. Peridot tries.Tragedy is inevitable.





	1. Chapter 1

Jasper’s first impression of the Stanley was that he was in the way. Nothing more than that. Just in the way. 

Her observation was the most literal one she could have made. They were busy wrecking a cliff on the beach so they’d at least have proper cover from the rain on this stupid planet. 

Jasper wouldn’t have noticed the Stanley if a rock from the cliff hadn’t almost fallen on the Stanley, making the Stanley shout in alarm. 

“What the hell is going on here!?” 

Jasper felt like Peridot’s statement that only a human with low intelligence would’ve even brought attention to himself when encountering a foreign species was accurate. And yet…. 

“Dude, it’s just rain. It’s not gonna hurt you. The pollution here ain’t that bad. But there is one place you can hide out in, since … since Ford and I ain’t usin’ it.” 

While it was a tight fit for Jasper, the Stan-O-War certainly kept them dry. 

“So … where’re you from?” the Stanley had asked. 

And for some reason, Jasper and Peridot told him. Jasper did most of the talking, since Peridot was cowering from the thunder. 

While Jasper appreciated the assurance that the rain would not kill them, it did still make her a bit anxious. Not that she’d ever admit that to the Stanley. 

No, she was perfectly fine making this insignificant creature see her as invulnerable and unshakable. Because that’s exactly what he was. Insignificant. 

She could only assume he had nothing better to do than listen to them and ask them annoying questions. She could only assume he had nothing better to do than come back the next day, and the day after that, and the day after the day after that. Checking up on them and seeing if they were still there, if they needed anything. 

Jasper didn’t understand him, but she saw him as harmless. It was the only reason she didn’t squash him into dust. 

For some reason, she told him more about Homeworld and what her role in Gem Culture was. 

She supposed she did so because of the look in his eyes when he looked up at her. And how that look grew more intense as she spoke.

“Gems are given their purpose in life from the moment they begin incubation in the ground. I was destined to be a warrior for Yellow Diamond, and there’s no Jasper better than I am at my job. That’s why I was entrusted with the task to drag any renegade Gems we find here on the Planet Earth while Peridot does her technology check-up.”

At this point in time, Jasper couldn’t even remember what made her say that to him. 

She just remembers what he had said in response. 

“Man, I wish humans were like that. I’d give anything to know what I’m here for. Heh, aside from being a waste of time and money to my dad and a leech on my brother.” 

Jasper couldn’t remember what had possessed her to suggest it to Stanley and Peridot. Maybe it was that statement. Maybe it was how he looked at her like that. Like she was the most powerful, the most strong. Like she was the best. Even better than a Diamond. 

“Peridot, what’s the likelihood that we could turn a separate species into one of our own?” 

“Pardon?” Peridot had asked. 

“What’re you saying?” Stanley had said, staring up at her with those eyes she had grown to be so fond of. 

“Let’s find out. I think Homeworld could use a few Stanleys.” 

She wished she could remember why she thought it was a good idea. 

So she could at least tell herself she hadn’t been completely stupid. That this had some kind of rationale behind it. 

Instead of the pathetic weakness that had weaseled itself into her heart. That weakness known as fondness. Fondness for a weak, insignificant … . 

No. Not even in her pain could she allow herself to think of her Stanley as insignificant.


	2. Chapter 2

Ford could hear Stanely’s small groans of pain from his place on the top bunk. After a while, he rolled over and peered down at Stan. Unable to really see his twin from way up there, in the dark, without his glasses on, he carefully climbed down and grabbed his glasses from their beside table. 

He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw something glowing underneath Stan’s night shirt. Ford reached out to touch it, but then Stan suddenly grabbed his wrist. Ford let out a yell, and that made Stan’s eyes snap open. He sat up quickly. 

“What’s going on!?” Stan said. He looked around, eyes adjusting to being open and being in the dark. 

“N-nothing, you startled me! I was checking up on you, then you grabbed me,” Ford explained, eyebrows knitting even further together. 

“Oh. Sorry, Sixer, didn’t mean to startle you.” 

“Stan, something in your shirt is glowing.” 

“Huh?” 

Stan looked down at his shirt, then pulled it up just enough so that Stan could see what it was. 

“Oh, that. Ah, that’s nothing for you to worry about. Just … don’t go telling Pa or anything, all right?” 

Ford raised an eyebrow. “Did you get a piercing or something?” 

“Ha ha, yeah, something like that.” 

Ford’s eyebrow climbed higher on his forehead, but he rolled his eyes, then climbed back up to the top bunk. If Stan had gone and pierced a nipple and was moaning about nipple pain, it was his own fault. 

Stan thought back to the conversation he had had with Jasper as Peridot had inserted the gem into his skin. 

_What gem shard are we using?_

_Of a Jasper who had perished in battle long ago. I think being a Jasper like I am will benefit you the best._

_I have to agree. Jaspers are warriors, and from what you demonstrated in that brawl with your human companion, you are definitely a warrior._

_Eh, I wouldn’t call Crampelter a companion. More like arch nemesis._

_Do you want me to destroy him for you?_

Jasper had asked that with such frankness and with no sense of sarcasm, and it had cracked Stanley up. 

_Nah, I can handle him just fine. But if you really want to see me in action, you should come to the boxing tournament in a couple weeks. I got a few extra comp tickets ‘cause Ford never uses his. Was gonna take Carla, but…._

_Are all these names different types of humans?_

_Not really types, more like individuals. With humans, we can be categorized into types, but most of us don’t have the same name as the rest in our groups._

_That sounds incredibly frustrating. Seriously, how did your species ever evolve into anything remotely worthwhile?_

Stanley had just shrugged at the time. 

_We are good for some things, though, I think._

_Yes, I would say so. Much like a Pearl._

_A Pearl? What kind of a gem is that?_

_A lowly servant whose main purpose is to stand there, take orders, and be pretty._

_I dunno about taking orders, but I sure am cute, aren’t I? Ha ha ha!_

_Yes, that’s why I said that._

Stanley had been joking and hadn’t expected Jasper to say that. He blushed once more, just thinking about it. 

_Why are you turning a different color in the face? Are you all right?_

_I-I’m fine!_

He couldn’t wait to be a gem like Jasper. She was funny and strong and beautiful and … everything he wanted in a woman. Everything he wanted to be. 

It was hard getting to sleep while thinking about her.


	3. Chapter 3

Filbrick Pines was the only parent of theirs to actually show up to the boxing tournament. 

Ford wasn’t there, either. West Coast Tech had rejected his project, and he hadn’t been taking the rejection well. Stanley didn’t really know where he was going or what he was doing, but he knew that Ford was spending less time at home and was sulking quite a bit. Being more secretive about how he felt and what he was doing. 

Though Stanley supposed he wasn’t quite that different about it. 

But Pa was here, and Jasper and Peridot were sitting in the very back of the audience. Jasper was so big she took up three seats, and the people around her were eyeing her cautiously. 

Peridot had her high-tech doo-hicky hovering in front of her. Something about ‘keeping a record of his performance for future reference.’ 

With both Jasper and Filbrick in the audience, Stanley had even more motivation to do well. 

Jasper, however, didn’t quite seem to understand the rules of boxing or of the tournament, because when he and his opponent would separate when the referee told them to, Jasper would shout, “What kind of battle prep is that!?” 

“Jasper, you know they’re soft and squishy. It’s probably to avoid injuries for when they have to be in a real fight,” Peridot reasoned. But Jasper wasn’t listening. 

“Beat him into the ground!” 

Stanley actually thought it was cute. He didn’t have time to explain while he was fighting, and her misunderstanding was a little embarrassing, but her passion and boisterousness was super adorable. 

He found it so cute he broke the rules just for her, but it put him in second place instead of first place. It had also gotten him a nasty shiner.

Filbrick hadn’t been impressed, but Jasper had shouted her approval, even punching the air and Peridot shook her head and remarked rather loudly on how impractical humans were proving themselves to be “in their day-to-day lives and activities. It’s only natural to do something like that in a fight, after all.”

Stanley met up with Jasper and Peridot after they all left the building.

“Pa, these are Jasper and Peridot. They’re, uh, from out of town.”

“I can see that,” Filbrick said, though Stan couldn’t tell if he already knew they were aliens or thought they were foreigners. Which … they were, admittedly. 

“Jasper, Peridot, this is my dad.”

“What’s a dad?” Jasper asked.

Stanley just stared for a moment, then stammered a little bit.

“Well, uh, every human has a set of parents, a ma and a pa. Depending on the region, the names for them change. Mom, Dad, Pops, Momma, Daddy, Mommy, you get the gist. It’s all short for father and mother. The ma and the pa make the baby human together.”

“From what, spare human parts? What’s a baby?” Peridot asked.

“… Wait, how do you guys reproduce?”

“The injector machine plants the seed in the ground. Then we incubate, then dig our way out when we’re ready,” Jasper said.

“Oh.” How to translate then? “Well, let’s put it this way. Pa is the injector, and Ma is the ground. Except instead of any digging, the tiny human gets pushed out.”

“Huh. Interesting,” Peridot said. She made movements with her fingers on her high-tech gizmo. “Are all humans capable of such a feat as creating human life?”

“Uh, most of them? Sometimes the parts don’t work like they’re supposed to, and there’s nothing no one can do about it,” Stan said.

Filbrick cleared his throat, expressing his discomfort with the conversation, but Filbrick was also refusing to leave. He clearly expected the conversation to end because he wanted it to be.

“So are you both injectors and incubators? What dictates your injector or incubator status?” Peridot asked.

“Uhhhhhh. I, uh, I guess you don’t have genders on your planet?”

“Gender?” Jasper asked. “The hell is a gender?”

“Ohhhh boy. Uh, well, boys are injectors, and girls are incubators. If we’re, uh, gonna use your terminology. Gender is what you are. A boy or a girl,” Stanley tried to explain. He felt like Ford would’ve been a better person to ask because he’d know the science behind it, and he knew that’s what Peridot really wanted. But he was also embarrassed about talking about …this in front of Jasper, to Jasper. 

“Which are you?” Jasper asked bluntly, tilting her head a little bit. 

Stanley felt his face heat up. 

“Your face is changing colors again." 

Stanley couldn’t help it and couldn’t bring himself to talk about that instead. He could hear Peridot tapping her fingers on the gizmo. 

“A-a-a boy.” 

“Are all Stanleys boys?”

“I - I - I think so, yeah.”

“So do these names you assign yourselves also indicate gender?” 

“Most of them, but there are some that can be either or. U-usually we tell by how they dress, but even then, there are exceptions…. It’s, uh, more complicated than I can explain? A girl could probably explain better, and they know all their girl stuff, while boys, uh, don’t….” 

“Would you say these girls of your species are smarter in general? How are they strength-wise? I’d imagine they’d be pretty tough if they pop out tiny humans out of their bodies,” Peridot said. 

“It, uh, it depends. Humans are very individualized, but yeah, I guess. I mean, most girls don’t have the training I do for fighting, y’know? But yeah, they can hold their own, beat somebody up just like anyone else. And yeah, having a baby is hard work, and there are a lot of girls smarter than me so….”

“Does this gender thing have anything to do with why you sometimes use that word ‘ladies’ when addressing us? Which is a lady?” Jasper asked. 

“Lady is another word for girl. I just - I thought - you both kinda look like girls, so I just thought -” 

Jasper and Peridot looked at each other. 

“What are the social benefits of being a boy as opposed to being a girl?” Peridot asked. 

“I … I, uh … shit, Peridot, that’s a really big question. And it’s complicated. I mean, boys … boys gets to do a lot of things girls can’t or haven’t been able to do for a long while, but girls can do other things more easily than boys and … it depends who you’re talkin’ to? Like, some people prefer boys over girls, but then others prefer girls over boys, and … .” 

Filbrick cleared his throat again, and Stanley’s nerves were really getting wound up. 

“What Peridot is getting at is whether or not we should feel insulted,” Jasper said. 

“No, no, no way, girls are great. It’s … .” 

Stanley exhaled deeply. He was sweating worse than when he was actually fighting in the ring. He was feeling … he was feeling like he somehow wasn’t smart enough for this conversation, which felt really stupid to feel because it was gender, it was something he had known about all his life, and yet all these questions made it feel so … so weird and mysterious and … why was this happening? The gem buried under his skin in his chest started to glow. 

“It’s up to you? What you want to be called?” 

If their planet didn’t have gender, then…. why not? He didn’t know. He didn’t know if there was a right answer to this. He wished Ford was here, he’d know, right? 

Jasper and Peridot looked at each other again, then started to talk out loud about it. 

“This girl identity doesn’t feel weird, but are we in a position to judge?” Peridot said.

“Does it really matter? We’re still the superior, stronger species. No matter what human girls experience here on Earth, we don’t really apply. If we can’t get our way the nice way, I’ll just -” And Jasper punched the wall, leaving a sizeable dent in it. 

Filbrick’s sunglasses slid down his face. His eyes were wide underneath them. 

“This is true,” Peridot said. “And Stanley says we’re more passable for girls than boys, and he’d know more than we would about that.” 

“Right,” Jasper said, now smiling with confidence. 

Stanley, however, felt like trusting his opinion on anything was a horrible decision. 

“It’s, uh, mostly ‘cause of the hair and your voices and, uh, Jasper’s got those curves that, uh, girls have,” Stanley attempted, but he just made himself blush more. 

That made Jasper laugh. 

“Ladies it is, then,” Jasper said. 

She then leaned forward, giving Stanley the happiest look he had seen her with in the absence of gem experiment conversation. 

“Now, you said you were going to show us what humans do in their free time. I wanna know what this ‘juke joint’ is.” 

“R-right! Right! Uh, Pa, are you gonna come with, or … ?” 

“N-no, I have work to do at the pawn shop.” 

So Filbrick left them, and Stanley walked with both Peridot and Jasper down the sidewalk towards his favorite 1950s-themed diner.


	4. Chapter 4

Jasper raised an eyebrow at this “hamburger and fries” that Stanley had ordered them. Peridot was dissecting it with the knife and fork she had been given, taking notes on it while she did so. 

“It’s a popular food here in the United States. Uh, you guys eat, right?” 

“No,” Peridot said. 

“Well, we can consume, but we don’t need to,” Jasper said as she picked up the hamburger with her hand. 

“Oh. Well, food is something humans need to keep going so we can live. So it’s pretty important, and we put a lot of effort into making it taste good.”

“What is it, though?” Peridot asked. 

“Beef, cheese, lettuce, and tomato in between two pieces of bread.” 

“I have no idea what any of those words mean,” Peridot said, narrowing her eyes at it. 

Jasper, on the other hand, just took a big bite out of it. She chewed it for a while, then swallowed. 

“Who cares what they mean? This is pretty good.” Jasper said. 

Stanley pumped his fist in victory, then dug into his own food. 

After a few minutes, Jasper stopped eating, just as Peridot had started to finally take a bite. 

“Something feels weird.” 

“Like what?” Stanley asked, mouth full. 

“Like something’s moving through my body.” 

“You mean like digestion?” 

“Digest… ?” 

Stanley swallowed, then grabbed a napkin and asked a waitress for a pen. He then drew a diagram for how consumption and digestion of food worked while talking about it Stanley-style. None of that nerdy jargon Ford would use. 

“Ohhhh. Okay. I guess you’d be used to that sensation, then,” Jasper said. 

“Pretty much. I guess it would feel weird if you hadn’t done it before, though.”

The music playing on the jukebox changed all of a sudden, and Stanley, Jasper, and Peridot turned their heads around to see who had changed it. 

“Oh no,” Stanley said, immediately turning his head around and putting his hand as a barrier for his eyes. He hunched his shoulders, attempting to be unnoticeable. 

“Someone you know?” Peridot asked. 

“It’s Carla and the hippie she ditched me for.”

Suddenly, Jasper and Peridot both stiffened. Stanley lowered his hand so he could look at Jasper better. 

He had never, ever seen her look scared, so it took him a moment to process that that was the emotion he was seeing on her face. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. 

“Why’re they doing that? This isn’t a battle area,” Jasper said, unwilling to tear her eyes away. 

Stanley made himself look over and saw that Carla and the hippie were dancing. 

“I don’t get it. They’re just dancing. What’s that got to do with battle?” 

Jasper and Peridot then looked at Stanley, surprised. 

“You mean … you don’t fuse on this planet?” Jasper asked. 

“You’ve lost me.” 

“Fusion is a battle tactic Gems use to get stronger in a pinch. It’s meant for battle only,” Peridot explained. “And fusion is achieved through dancing.” 

“Oh. Dang. On Earth, it’s just for fun. And it’s kinda romantic.” 

“Romantic?” Jasper said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, yeah,” Stanley said, starting to blush a little. “You guys have romance on your planet, right?” 

“Um.” 

“Y’know, when you’re in love with someone, you want to do cute shit with them? Stuff that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and shows that you love them?” 

“This is a foreign concept,” Peridot said, frowning. 

“Really?” Stanley asked, frowning. That … did not bode well for him, considering how his heart kept fluttering around Jasper. 

“I think. I don’t … ?” 

Peridot looked to Jasper, and Jasper just shrugged. 

“How should I know? Just the sound of ‘warm and fuzzy’ sounds alien to me.” 

“I mean, it’s not … entirely foreign an idea? But I don’t know what love has to do with any of that. Now devotion, that is something I associate with those feelings,” Peridot said. 

“Devotion’s a part of love,” Stanley said. 

That seemed to make it click in their brains what he meant. 

“Oh! You mean romantic activities are a sign of devotion!” 

“You could say it that way, yeah,” Stanley said, smiling a little bit at making some cultural headway. 

Then he looked back over at Carla and the hippie, then sighed and turned back to his food. Jasper looked back at the dance floor, then back at Stanley. 

“What’s the matter?” 

“Carla and I used to dance all the time until we broke up.” 

“Broke up?” 

“Sorry, I mean stopped being devoted to each other. It doesn’t matter.” 

Stanley kept frowning, though. Jasper watched him for a moment longer, then her eyebrows knitted together as she turned her head to watch the two love birds tearing up the rug. 

Jasper suddenly grabbed the back of Stanley’s shirt and drug him from the table. 

“Whoa!” 

Peridot turned around in her chair and took out her high-tech doo-hickey that she used to take lots of notes on. Stanley could hear her talking to it, mentioning the log date and a description of what she had just learned about dancing and human culture and what she was witnessing. 

“Jasper has taken it upon herself to engage with the humans in their devotional activity, seemingly to create tension between the Stanley and this Carla he has apparently been spurned by. I have absolutely no idea what triggered this desire, but I’m curious to see the results.” 

Jasper was so much bigger and stronger than him, it was only natural for her to lead and for Stanley to not put up a fight with it. He made a tiny bit of protest, but after it was ignored, he just went along with it. 

It was clear that Jasper had indeed danced before, and he was a little surprised by just how graceful she was. 

The dancing didn’t quite fit the beat of the music, but it occurred to Stanley as they moved that she was probably used to dancing without it, on the battlefield and in a hurry. 

After getting over the shock of actually being pulled onto the dance floor with her, he slipped his hands into hers and gave her a grin. 

“Hey, how about something like this?” 

And he tried showing her a few of his own moves, moves better fitted for the jazz pumping out of the jukebox. 

In no time at all, they were both dancing to the beat, their movements synchronizing well, and Jasper starting to laugh. 

“This is actually really fun!” she said.

“I know, right!?” 

“Peridot! Join in!” 

“No thank you.”

“Suit yourself!” Stanley called over to her. 

Stanley honestly forgot Carla was there until Jasper had grabbed him and spun him around, then dipped him almost out of no where. 

“Hey, Carla!” Stan said as a greeting before Jasper pulled him up. “Long time, no see!” 

Upside down, it had been hard to see her expression. But as Jasper continued to spin him around, he was able to glance at the way she was looking at them. 

She was mostly staring at Jasper, and the look on Carla’s face made Stanley nervous. 

Carla also wasn’t dancing anymore. 

The song ended, and Jasper didn’t immediately let go of Stanley. She turned her head towards the jukebox. 

“Why’d it stop?” 

“That was the end of the song. You need to put more money into it, then pick another one.” 

“Do we have that?” 

“Money? Yeah, how else would we pay for the food?” 

“You have to pay for it? You said you needed food to live.”

“Yeah, we do.” 

Jasper tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Your planet is weird and stupid,” Jasper said. “How much for the music maker?” 

“Well, our plates come up to….” Stanley dug his hand into his pocket for his wallet, then counted out what he had. He then laughed a little nervously, but pulled out a few quarters. “I can only afford for one song and the food. Sorry about that.”

He gave Jasper the quarters, then watched as she went over to the jukebox. Peridot hopped off her stool, then hurried over to Jasper’s side. 

“Jasper is now trying to figure out where these money circles fit into the music maker machine to get it to play more music. It also turns out humans are surprisingly cruel to one another, restricting food access unless they can procure weird looking circles and rectangles to exchange for it. So not only are they soft, squishy, weak, and all around a far inferior species, they set up a situation that can easily lead to suffering and survival insecurity. No doubt holding back their own progress as a species.” 

“Tell us what you really think, why don’t you?” Stanley said sarcastically. 

“I just did,” Peridot said, turning her head to look over at him. 

“Sarcasm, Peri. Sarcasm.”

Stan then turned to properly face Carla. 

“Hey, uh, so how you doin’?” 

“Stan, who is she?” Carla asked. 

“Hm?” 

“Ha! I got it!” Jasper exclaimed. 

“So which one are we gonna pick?” Peridot asked. 

“Last Train to London is pretty good,” Stanley suggested. He knew Jasper had taken his advice when that very song started to play. Turning back to Carla, Stanley continued. “This is Jasper,” Stanley said as Jasper came over and grabbed his hand again. “She’s, uh, she’s -”

“The new girl,” Jasper said, voice teeming with suggestion and her arms quite literally sweeping Stanley off his feet. She proceeded swing him back and forth in the air, just because she could. 

After the initial shock of his feet no longer being on the ground, Stan simply burst out laughing. 

The song ended, then Jasper wrapped her arm around Stanley’s shoulders. 

“Let’s pay and get outta here.” Jasper said. 

Stanley could still hear Peridot talking to her high-tech gizmo. 

“Jasper seems to have successfully taunted the Carla with the fact that she is the superior dance partner for the Stanley. I will need to ask the Stanley just how binding this ‘romantic dancing’ in terms of human relationships. but it must not be a big deal, if the Stanley and the Carla can be separated. I am mostly curious as to whether or not this means Jasper and the Stanley are suddenly in what the Stanley calls a ‘relationship.’" 

When Stanley saw Carla’s face, he didn’t see disappointment or envy. 

He saw fear and concern, and that made him very uncomfortable. 

He hurried out of the diner after paying faster than either Gem. 

“We should get our own music machine,” Jasper said aloud. 

“Heh. It’s called a jukebox. And that could be fun. But it’ll take me a while to get spending money for that.” 

“I say we steal one. This whole exchanging money for things is stupid,” Jasper said. 

Stanley just stared at her for a long time. Then he laughed. 

“You really are after my heart, with talk like that! Ha ha!” 

“Why would I be after your heart? You said you’d die without that in your chest.” 

Stanley blushed. 

“It - it’s a figure of speech, it means … it means you know exactly how to make me happy.” 

“Oh.” 

Jasper grinned at him. 

“In that case, I certainly am.” 

Stanley’s blush darkened considerably. 

Stanley hadn’t noticed, but the gem in his chest had been glowing brightly ever since they had started dancing, and it hadn’t died down yet.


	5. Chapter 5

Stan tried to work through the pain. In boxing, in class, at home, out and about, doing tests with Peridot and hanging out with Jasper. He tried to work through it, but the longer the gem shards were embedded in his skin, the more it hurt. 

Peridot hadn’t been seeing the progress she and Jasper had wanted, so Peridot had put more gem sharps into his skin at different junctures. 

Stan felt like he was a night light or some kind of glow stick when the sun was down and the lights were off in the house. 

Ford luckily slept pretty well typically and slept on the top bunk. He couldn’t be bothered by the glowing light below his bed. 

Ford had been distracted. Ma was always distracted, and Pa had been avoiding spending too much time with Stanley since he had met Jasper and Peridot. So hiding his pain from them had been easy.

It was getting a little harder to hide it from Jasper. 

Peridot didn’t know humans very well. It was easy to lie to her, even though Stanley knew it probably wasn’t in his best interests. 

But he wanted this to work. 

Peridot said it would work. 

He wanted to know what it would be like to fuse with Jasper. To be a gem like Jasper. 

He wanted to be useful and have a purpose like they did. 

“Stanley? You have a weird look on your face. Are you all right?” Jasper asked, frowning a bit and tilting her head in a way that made her look particularly cute. 

Stanley opened his mouth. 

But his voice didn’t come out. 

“ _Incomplete._ ”

Stanley had never heard the voice before. He tried to form other, different words, something to express his confusion and growing terror. 

“S-Stanley?”

But all that came out were words that were not his. 

“ _Incomplete. Need more. Shards. More shards. Must. Be. Complete. Must. Get Rid. Of Obstacle._ ”

“Peridot! PERIDOT! GET OUT HERE!” 

“Coming! What - ?” 

“ _Flesh. Obstacle. Preventing completion. Must. Be. Complete!_ ”

Stanley covered his mouth, horrified by what was coming out. He didn’t understand. What was happening!?

“The shards must still have consciousness!” Peridot said. 

“Well, fix it! Fix him!” Jasper demanded. 

The places where the shards were buried underneath his skin started to burn, then all Stanley could do was scream.


	6. Chapter 6

Stan had little wounds in his skin that didn’t look like much on the surface, but they went deep, and it hurt a lot when they were touched. Stan wondered if they’d get infected and how he’d handle that if they did. 

Jasper hugging him tightly didn’t help any, but he fought the urge to ask her to let go. 

He had never seen the giant woman close to tears before, and he didn’t want to take away the comfort that hugging him gave her. 

“Peridot, what happened?” 

“My only hypothesis is that because the shards still had consciousness, they tried to reform. Stanley’s body provided them a way to better communicate with each other and find each other. Which means this experiment is a flop, and further experimentation could result in serious injury.”

“Or death. Death was probably an option there. What with one of those things being in my chest,” Stan volunteered, though perhaps unhelpfully. 

“W-what do you mean?” Jasper asked. 

“Y-you guys know what death is, right?” Stan asked. 

“Yes, of course we do, but -” Jasper said. “But how would it have killed you?” 

“Well, I’m all soft and squishy, and if anything happens to my lungs, heart, or brain, I’m basically done for. And a few other organs I can’t live without. Like the liver…. kidneys….” 

“And the shards were cutting through your body to join in the middle…” Peridot added, her expression becoming more pensive. 

Jasper’s grip on Stanley tightened, and Stan couldn’t handle it anymore. 

“Ow - !” 

Jasper loosened her grip, but Stanley still winced. 

“Why … ? Why are you so fragile?” Jasper asked, and the heartbreak in her eyes hurt almost as bad as the actual wounds. 

“I - I’m sorry….” Stanley said, though he knew, rationally, it wasn’t his fault. 

“Maybe this means we can’t turn you into a Gem,” Peridot said. 

“But - but he can’t go into space with us otherwise,” Jasper said, her voice level and under control, but there were still tears in her eyes. Stanley had scared her. “He can’t breathe in space.” 

“Or on Homeworld,” Peridot said. 

“He can’t stay here,” Jasper said. “He’ll die when the Cluster awakens.”

“The what?” Stanley asked, but he was ignored. 

“But what if turning him into a Gem kills him faster?” Peridot asked. 

“… Are we going to try again?” Stanley asked. 

“I … I don’t know. It … could’ve happened because they were all Jasper shards. Perhaps from the same Jasper. I could … try shards from different gems…. But only if you want to,” Peridot said. 

“I … I do. I really, really want to be like you guys. If we have one more shot, I wanna take it.” 

“Jasper? Do you agree?” 

Stanley looked back up at Jasper. While he still hurt, he felt safe in her arms. 

“Yes. I … I don’t want him to be here when the Cluster wakes up. I want him safe, with us.”

Stanley didn’t ask about the Cluster this time. 

“Hey, have you guys ever had s’mores by a campfire?” he asked instead. 

“A what?” Jasper asked. 

Stan smiled. 

“C’mon, let’s have some fun for a while. We gotta get marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers and some firewood and matches.”

Watching Jasper realize that marshmallows were chewy and sticky was the highlight of his night.


	7. Chapter 7

“So, dear log book, I have determined that the biggest flaw in my plan was using gem shards of the same type. Of course they would want to fuse into a single gem if they’re all parts of a jasper! So for the Stanley’s best interests, I’ve gone with using shards from various types of gems. All quartzes, naturally, but this way they don’t have any reason to want to come together to make a whole gem and kill the Stanley in the process. In other news, the Jasper I had been assigned has been educating the Stanley on the culture on Homeworld that we will phase him into once he has been converted into a gem-human hybrid of sorts. He will of course be of lower stature to all pure Gems and essentially serve as Jasper’s servant, but he will be a great addition to the Homeworld cause. He has no greater desire than to be useful and have a purpose. The Earthlings are so strange in that they did not assign him one when he was created. Such lack of foresight would never be tolerated on Homeworld. You should see the look on his face that he gets when he thinks about how directionless his life on Earth is. The Earthlings dare to make fun of a creature when they have nothing going for them when they themselves didn’t deign it important to give him something in the first place! Of course some Earthlings get lost in the cracks! It’s preposterous, it’s amazing these creatures have lived as long as they have. They’re incredibly temporary and have no real survival instincts. For forethought or planning about their species as a whole because they can’t ever imagine how the world will be beyond the measly hundred years they may or may not live to see. The Stanley assures us that humans simply do not live past a hundred, that only very few humans end up living that long. It’s so stupid!” 

“Peridot!” Stanley yelled from outside. 

Peridot paused her recording, then went to investigate what he was shouting about. 

Stanley and Jasper were standing on the beach. The Stanley was wearing difficult clothes from usual. Nicer looking, though Peridot couldn’t imagine what the occasion would be. 

It was weird enough that humans changed their clothes on a regular basis as it was. 

“We’re going to the boardwalk! You wanna come?” 

“If I must. I have to keep an eye on your gemification proress,” Peridot said. 

Peridot followed along behind them, watching as Jasper and Stanley cracked jokes at each other and made each other laugh. 

Peridot had noticed the change in Jasper’s behavior. She was still brutish and mean-spirited in many ways, but a positive change had occurred in her. She was happy. Smiled more. Let more things slide. 

They sometimes held hands, and Stanley’s face would change color. He insisted it wasn’t a side effect of the gemification process, but he refused to explain what it actually meant in human biological and cultural terms. 

Whatever. 

Peridot went with them to the boardwalk, and Peridot watched them as they did various activities on the boardwalk - show Jasper what ice cream was, play carnival games, show-off for Jasper, Jasper misunderstanding a situation and impressing Stanley with her strength or making him laugh with how she handled it - and she kept a record of it in her log as she watched. 

The appearance of the Crystal Gems was entirely unexpected. 

The renegade Pearl attacked first, and Peridot, Jasper, and Stanley had been caught completely unawares, surrounded by the damage that Jasper had done to the penny machine that turned your pennies into little coins with special pictures on them. Jasper and Stanley had been laughing over it when the renegade Pearl’s spear flew between them. Jasper had moved last minute out of the way, but the spear had nicked Stanley’s arm. Stanley hissed and grabbed his arm. Red ran down Stanley’s arm, staining the white on his shirt and his skin. 

“Stanley! Are you okay!?” Peridot shouted over. 

“It’s fine!” Stanley said, turning his head to look at who had attacked them. 

The Pearl wasn’t alone, and the Fusion and an Amethyst attacked next. 

Jasper formed her weapon and made their counter-attack. 

“Stanley!? What’re you doing here!?” 

“Ford!?” 

Peridot wasn’t built for fighting. If Jasper could handle it, then Peridot would let her handle it. But it was already three against one, and Stanley knew the human with them? That’s weird, that human looked an awful lot like Stanley, and the other humans didn’t…. And where was Rose Quartz? 

“There you are! What’s going on?” Rose Quartz asked as she appeared beside Ford. 

“They found the other Gem destroying the boardwalk - !” Ford started, but then Stanley interrupted. 

“It wasn’t on purpose, just what’s your deal!?”

“You’re hurt! Here, let me -” Rose Quartz said. 

Stanley, however, stepped away from her. 

A worrying sound from the fighting drew their attention to Jasper, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst. 

“Jasper!” 

Stanley ran towards the fight. 

“STANLEY!” Ford shouted after him. 

“The Stanley is about to join the fight to protect Jasper, this is it, this way we’ll be able to discern how the gemification process is going and if it is effective!” Peridot told her log. 

At first, the Crystal Gems were unwilling to fight Stanley. 

“We don’t want to hurt you! Get out of the way!” 

“Never!” 

And Stanley threw a punch. 

The expectation was that Stanley would’ve just hurt his hand. It was even Stanley’s expectation. But then his punch pushed Garnet back, though it didn’t actually hurt. 

They all stared, wide-eyed, at the Gem weapon that had appeared on Stanley’s hand. 

“How’d he do that!?” Amethyst demanded. 

Blood started to drip down Stan’s arm as he pulled his hand back to examine it. 

He grinned through the pain and got into another fighting stance. 

“Bring it on!”

“No! Stop! Stanley, that’s a lot of blood!” Ford shouted, running over to them. 

“I’m fine!” Stanley insisted. 

Ford got angry. 

“No you’re not! What the hell happened to you!?” 

Stanley was gritting his teeth, trying to ignore the increased amounts of pain in his body, especially where the weapon had created itself. But it was starting to get stronger in other areas of his body too…. 

“Peridot, are you getting this!?” Jasper shouted over to her. 

“Yes! Yes I am! The Stanley has successfully summoned a Gem weapon! The biggest success we’ve had with the experiment thus far! But, uh, Stanley, how worried should we be about the red stuff?”

“Don’t worry about it!” Stanley said. 

“Yes worry about it, that’s a lot of blood! Humans die without enough blood, definitely worry!” 

“Shut it, Ford!” 

“Who is this ‘Ford’ anyway?” Jasper said. 

“My twin brother,” Stanley said. 

“… I don’t know what that is,” Jasper said. 

“Y’know how I explained about my ma and pa?” 

“Yes?” 

“He popped outta Ma a few minutes before I did on the same day. So he’s my twin. Brothers and sisters are people who come from the same ma and pa.” 

“I see…. He’s associated himself with the enemy.” 

“Yeah, I noticed that.” 

“THEY’RE the enemy, Stanley!” Ford said. “Now, what did they do to you!?”

“They’re improving me! They’re making me into something better!” 

“What?” 

“It’s not like we forced him. He consented to the experiment, and if it’s successful, it will more than likely be your species’ salvation, so please give it some respect,” Peridot said. 

“But what is it you’re trying to do!?” 

“We’re turning him into one of us,” Jasper said, a smirk on her face. “Into a new kind of gem!” 

Rose Quartz and Ford had the most horrified expressions. 

“No! You can’t do that! Humans are perfect the way they are! You can’t just - !” Rose Quartz said. 

Stanley started laughing before Peridot and Jasper did, but all three of them laughed together at that. Ford paled considerably. 

“Stanley - !” 

“Wow, she always this funny, Sixer?” Stan asked. 

“You will show Rose respect!” Pearl shouted, but Rose Quartz put a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. 

Rose looked at Stanley, eyes incredibly sad. 

“Why would you want this?” she asked. 

“Why wouldn’t I want this?” Stanley gave as a rebuttal. “I’m finally going to be here for a purpose, I’m finally gonna be wanted around by someone, who wouldn’t want to be a part of this?”

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Ford demanded. 

“I wouldn’t expect the twin whose actually good at stuff and the one Ma and Pa had actually wanted to understand!”

Ford flinched as though Stan had hit him instead. 

“Stanley! We should catalogue more about what you’re capable of!” Jasper barked. “Either let’s get the fight going already, Crystal Germs, or get out of our way!” 

“So be it,” Garnet said, charging in to fight. 

“No!” Ford shouted, but Garnet and Amethyst didn’t listen to him. Only Pearl held back beside Rose Quartz and Ford. 

“What should we do?” Pearl asked, eyes on Ford. “He’s your brother, right?” 

Ford nodded. 

“We can’t just let Homeworld Gems manipulate an Earthling! Rose, what do we do? Rose?” 

Ford turned his head and looked up at Rose Quartz - a woman he had managed to learn to see as a mother figure. 

He saw the look of heartbreak on her face, and it was like looking into a mirror. As though this wasn’t Rose Quartz’s first time meeting Stanley. As though Rose Quartz was watching her own family do this. 

How did she find it in herself to love so strongly for so many? 

“I - I don’t know,” Rose Quartz admitted. 

Ford didn’t want to believe it. 

Looking over at Pearl, he could tell she didn’t want to either.


	8. Pearlauthor Notes

Now, in the Jaspley universe, the Pearlauthor ship has been in the background. 

Ford essentially falls in love with Pearl’s brain, but the fact that she’s beautiful is certainly a bonus. He likes looking at her and talking to her and working on projects with her. 

But when Pearl tries to get him to go away because she’s “not interested in human mating endeavors because ew” and because she’s in love with Rose Quartz, there’s no room for a human if it’s not one of Rose’s playmates, he starts stammering and spluttering and somehow manages to get out that he’s actually not interested in sex that much. Sure, he might get distracted by looking at the female body, but the actual thought of engaging with another human being in sexual behavior has always filled him with a bit of dread. All he has to do it look at Stanley to know that’s not exactly “normal.” 

The first time they have this conversation, Pearl’s intentions to get Ford to leave her alone are lost on him, but Pearl also warms up to him a little more and decides that as long as he’s not going to do anything funny, having someone around she can talk to about science-y things isn’t so bad. 

And maybe she’ll finally be able to understand why Rose likes having human playmates if she has one of her own. 

Unlike Greg or Stanley, Ford doesn’t even want to try to fuse. He sees it the first time and just has a lot of scientific questions and is writing it all down in his notebooks, and Ford finds it fascinating and tries to get a mathematical formula for determining exactly how much stronger Fusions are compared to their individual parts. Garnet thinks that’s silly, but Pearl doesn’t see the harm in him trying to find out. 

But Pearl doesn’t trust Ford as much as Ford trusts her. When she discovers that Stanley, Ford’s twin brother, has been working with the enemy, she starts to wonder if he was too. But Pearl doesn’t hold onto grudges or misconceptions nearly as tightly as Ford does. So using pure logic and reason, Pearl accepts Ford’s explanation when he tells her he had no idea Stanley was working with the enemy. 

Pearl is a fantastic actress when she does successfully piss Ford off into leaving her and the Crystal Gems alone, per Ma Pines’s request. She understands Ma Pines’s reasons, and Pearl honestly is worried about Ford’s safety. He’s fragile, he’s human. He won’t live that long. And what would be the point in Ford wasting all his time chasing after a humanoid space rock who had no interest in returning his romantic affections? 

She refuses to listen to Rose Quartz, Amethyst, and Garnet when they say that they’re not one-hundred percent that’s true. But Pearl loves Rose Quartz more than anything else. 

If she does have genuine feelings for Stanford Pines, she won’t acknowledge them until after Steven is born. 

Ford lets the rejection turn his heart hard, and he doesn’t pursue any other romantic relationships. Bill manages to weasel his way into Ford’s heart, but it was a lot of work on Bill’s part.

Bill ends up screwing up his own plan with the portal over with one misspoken comment about Pearl. Ford reacts super negatively and lashes out. 

“It’s been ten years, Sixer! Surely she can’t still mean that much to you! Who cares what she thinks? She’s just a space rock!” 

“YOU SHUT UP ABOUT HER!”

“All right, all right! Fine! Just - c’mon, don’t destroy everything we’ve worked on just because I insulted your ex-girlfriend! C’mon, please? For me?” 

The topic of Pearl never really stops being an open wound that never heals, not even by the time Jasper comes back into their lives. 

It’s not until Dipper and Mabel come to visit with a new friend of theirs - Steven Universe - about a year or two after Jasper becomes their “Great Aunt Jasper” that Ford meets Pearl again.


	9. Rose Quartz Notes

The experiment of turning Stanley into a Gem backfires so horribly that Jasper and Peridot have to rely on the Crystal Gems for help. 

Rose Quartz ultimately saves Stanley in the end, and Rose is also furious at Peridot and Jasper. Even more so than Ford is, which doesn’t seem possible. And Rose isn’t often angry. 

But she’s furious that they would do such a horrible, horrible thing to a human. She loves humans and humanity and Earth, and even after the war so, so long ago in human history but in their recent memory, what they’ve done to Stanley is the most horrible thing a Gem has done to an individual human. 

She’s angry that Jasper has the nerve to say that she cares about “her Stanley” and yet has done this to him. 

“If you care about him even the smallest fraction of the amount he loves you, then you will leave.” 

Under different circumstances, Rose would have tried to get Jasper to understand. To bridge the gap between Jasper’s Homeworld views and what humanity truly is. 

But with this child in her arms - for that’s what humans Stanley’s age will always be in her eyes, even though Stanley is so close to becoming a man and was already seen as a man by Filbrick - healed by her tears but exhausted and there’s no telling of what the psychological damage of what he has gone through is, Rose does not have it in her to forgive or to be kind. Not right now. 

Jasper is also not in a good headspace. She just watched her Stanley go through something horrible that was all her fault - she had ordered Peridot to do the experiments, she had put it into Stanley’s head that he could be a Gem like her, she had taken all of Stanley’s insecurities and said that she could make it all better - and she couldn’t save him by herself and he’s there, in the enemy’s arms, being protected from her, because she did this to him.

Peridot is shaken, but tries to stand their ground. But Jasper leaves without saying a word, and Peridot retreats with her. 

Peridot tries to get Jasper to talk to her, to tell her why they’re leaving and why they’re leaving Stanley behind. 

“The enemy’s captured him! We have to do something!” 

All Jasper says is “He can’t breathe in space.”


	10. Imagine "My Stanley"

Imagine Ford hearing Jasper call Stanley “my Stanley” for the first time and actually getting chills from just how possessive she sounds. Imagine Ford getting super pissed by the idea that both Jasper and Peridot somehow got it into their heads that his brother belongs to “them” and Peridot laughing and “No no no, you’ve got it all wrong. He’s just Jasper’s Stanley, not mine. I have no interest in his companionship outside of the experiments.” 

Imagine Ford being really protective of Stanley and not understanding when Stan asks him to back the hell off and leave Jasper alone. 

“I like being her Stanley!” 

“But you’re not hers, you’re your own person, Stanley! Don’t you see they don’t respect you!?” 

“Of course they don’t, I’m just a human.” 

“Just a human!? Stanley, what’s gotten into you!?” 

Because Ford has all this pride in being a human, even though he’s infatuated with Pearl, but Stanley wants to be like Jasper so badly.

Ford thinking Jasper and Peridot have done something to Stanley’s brain or something like that when it’s just Stanley’s own lack of self worth being contextualized in an environment and new friendships that do nothing to discourage that view of himself and actually encourage the downplaying of the importance of his humanity.


	11. Carla Notes

Also, a big thing with Jaspley with Teen Stan and this big thing with Jasper and Peridot versus the Crystal Gems and that Stanley is skipping school now so he can hang out with Jasper and Peridot is that despite having broken up with Stanley, Carla notices he’s not coming to school anymore. 

Carla notices he’s not around really, and when she asks Ford where he is, he just shrugs and says he’s been acting weird but doesn’t know what’s up. When asked how could he not, Ford just goes “I’m not his keeper.” It’s not that Ford isn’t worried, but he’s so focused on West Coast Tech coming to look at his project that he’s brushing it off and thinking “Stanley will come talk to me about it when he wants to.” And then he meets the Crystal Gems and has all eyes for Pearl. 

The school gets in contact with Ma and Filbrick and tell them about Stanley skipping and that if he doesn’t come back soon he’ll be considered a drop-out. 

Carla comes by the house, hoping Stanley’s there. She’s not looking to get back with him, she’s just worried. The last time they had seen each other had been when they had officially broken up, and she’s afraid this is somehow her fault. 

But he’s not really at home anymore except for when it’s late, really late, these days. 

Eventually, Carla does see Stanley again, but not at school or home. 

He’s across the street, walking with Jasper who is bigger than anyone Carla has ever seen in her life and is so strange-looking. 

She doesn’t mean to spy or eavesdrop, but she finds herself doing it anyway, just trying to figure out what’s going on. 

She sees how Stanley looks at Jasper, sees them at her and Stanley’s favorite date-night spot, sees them dance together and laugh. 

Jasper talks strangely and says things that get a negative gut reaction from Carla, but she can’t bring herself to bring attention to herself, can’t interrupt or interject. She just watches and sees Stanley happier than she had seen him in a while. 

And Carla just walks away, and Stanley doesn’t find out that she was there. Jasper noticed her, but Jasper doesn’t give any other humans much attention and had no reason to think a human with a flower in her hair was the least bit worth mentioning. 

Later, after Ford learns who Jasper is and her role in the struggles between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems, Ford and Carla have a heart-to-heart because they’re still friends and Ford doesn’t know who else to talk to.


	12. Ma Pines Notes

So imagine Ma Pines during all the Jaspley drama. And West Coast Tech didn’t like Ford’s experiment and he’s gone from being super depressed at home to never being home. 

Both twins are who-knows-where doing who-knows-what, and sure, maybe Ma Pines doesn’t pay either of them that much attention, but she knows Ford isn’t doing so hot, and his absence makes her worried, but then she actually looks for Stanley to ask what’s going on with Ford and realizes he’s not around either. 

Imagine Ma Pines having no idea what’s going on until she meets the Gems. And even then, she doesn’t know who they are, what they are, or how dangerous it can be for her children to be hanging out with them. 

Imagine Ma Pines’s first encounter with Jasper being either the final fight between Jasper, Peridot, and Stanley with the Crystal Gems (with Ford’s help) or being just a little bit before it. 

Imagine Ma Pines finally seeing this Jasper woman her son has finally opened up to her about and being afraid of her. This Jasper is huge and can lift cars and is rude and is treating her baby like he’s some kind of pet. 

Jasper doesn’t really know any better, but that doesn’t matter. Even if Ma knew that, it wouldn’t matter. Not to her or Ford or any other human. 

Imagine the fear that would refuse to go away after Stanley manages to survive the Gem experiments and Jasper and Peridot are gone, but Ford is still hanging around the Crystal Gems. Ford talks endlessly about this Pearl and how wonderful she is. 

Ma Pines works hard to get Stanley back to school, whether it means he attends actual graduation or gets a GED she doesn’t care. She takes Ford to far-away colleges, anything to get him away from those monsters. 

Ma Pines developing some serious xenophobia out of fear and trauma. 

Ma Pines getting in Pearl’s face and demanding she and the other Gems leave her family alone. Pearl respecting her request and being mean to Ford on purpose to make Ford so angry he doesn’t want to talk to her.


	13. Meeting Again Notes

So imagine Jasper not expecting Stanley to be in Gravity Falls and she’s there because she and Peridot are checking on Gem stuff that happens to be in the area, and it’s been years since they’ve seen each other. 

Stanley’s an old man and Jasper doesn’t recognize him at all. Everyone in town is talking about her as she’s wandering around, hating that she’s back on Earth and has to be doing this. Stanley (and Ford, ‘cause this is either post-Weirdmageddon and assuming they’ve made up or they never actually had their falling out) hear on the news that there’s this “strange, giant orange woman in town” and Ford tries to stop Stanley because he of course remembers Jasper and he hates those memories and has hated Jasper still all these years for what she did. But Stanley never really got over Jasper and has felt like he had failed her this whole time, but now he can talk to her and apologize. 

He’s learned how to love himself thanks to Dipper and Mabel and be proud of being human, but he still wants to apologize for letting her down. 

Stanley runs up to her, calls her by name, but Jasper doesn’t figure it out on her own. 

“Who … who are you? And how do you know my name?” 

“Jasper … oh. Heh heh. I guess I do look awfully different, huh?” 

Then Jasper sees it. It’s in his eyes. That same admiration and love. 

Jasper goes from confused to scared and worried because he looks so different, looks so - she doesn’t really have a concept for old, not the kind of old that humans get. She doesn’t understand. 

But it’s Stanley, she knows it is, and she envelopes him in a hug, careful not to squeeze too tightly because she remembers he’s fragile. 

Before Stan can even think of how to phrase his apology, “I’m sorry!” is spilling out of her mouth, repeatedly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for leaving, I’m sorry for hurting you, I’m sorry for everything!” And Stanley comforts her and tells her it’s all right, it was forever ago, he’s okay.


	14. Dipper and Mabel Meet Jasper

The question first tumbled off Mabel’s tongue when they saw the pictures of them together. 

“Grunkle Stan, who’s that!?” Mabel gushed as they had their video chat. 

“Hm? Oh, that’s Jasper. She’s, ah, someone I used to know back in Glass Shard Beach, and we’ve reconnected.” 

Dipper chewed the inside of his cheek as he examined the digital photos Mabel had up on the computer screen beside the video chat window. Ford was in the background of the picture, and he looked rather unhappy. But Dipper didn’t comment on it. 

“How’d you meet? Is she your girlfriend? When can we meet her!?” 

Stan laughed and did his best to answer Mabel’s questions, though he really refrained for specifying how they had met. 

And that was how Dipper and Mabel found themselves sitting at the dining room table at Grunkle Stan’s and Grunkle Ford’s in Gravity Falls, staring up at a big woman who was so big, she had to duck to prevent hitting her head on the ceiling and the light fixture. 

“Manly Dan says he won’t be able to fix the house with a higher ceiling until Monday, but soon you won’t have to stoop so much, babe,” Stanley said. 

Jasper smiled, but it was a nervous one Dipper knew well. 

“It’s … all right. Now … who are these tiny humans again?” 

“Dipper and Mabel, my grand niblings!” 

“What is a … nibling?” 

“It means Stan’s brother Shermie had a kid who had kids! So Dad is a nibling, and grand means we’re the nibling’s niblings!” Mabel explained. 

Jasper grunted a bit, then eased herself into a chair. 

“So … where are you from?” Dipper asked. 

“Homeworld.” 

“Homeworld? Where’s Homeworld?” 

“In space.” 

“You’re an alien!?” 

Dipper immediately got out his notebook and pen. 

“Would you mind if I asked a bunch of questions about your planet and space travel!?” 

“Uh … sure, go ahead?” 

Stan smiled. Jasper looked a little nervous and uncomfortable, but the kids were quickly warming up to her. Stan felt that Jasper would warm up to them too. 

After dinner, Jasper was running around with them outside, reenacting some kind of Gem battle and telling them war stories, Dipper jotting down every detail he could follow and Mabel having fun with the theatrics. 

Ford may be a grumpy-grump forever, but at least things were working out.


End file.
